| Hand of the Week 21st December 2015 |
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What should East bid?
1♣ , 2♣ , 3♣, 4♣ or 5♣
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| Show Answer |
1) - Opening 4♣ - 4♣ would be understating the playing strength.
2) - Opening 3♣.- the hand has far too much playing strength to open 3♣ . If you pre-empt, you open 4♣ or 5
3) - Opening 2♣ - A 2♣ opening, if played as strong and artificial, would be grossly misleading with only 10 HCP. For a 2♣ opening, partner expects in the region of 5 quick tricks, not 2 as you have here, and somewhere over 20 HCP (23 if the hand was balanced), not 10 as this hand has.
4) - The choice therefore is between 1♣ and 5♣ . While it could be wrong, making the opponents guess with 5♣ feels right to me.
Answers - curtsey of Julian Pottage - Mr Bridge
Note from David Stevenson - Mr Bridge
A 2C opening shows a strong hand in general playing strength. Unfortunately a growing problem in bridge is the failure to differentiate between strong based on top cards, and strong based on a lot of playing tricks which means a hand is strong played in its own suit.
Your hand is a typical example of the latter. If you open 2C, and partner decides to bid 3NT (or even 6NT) based on the high card strength you have shown, he is likely to be severely disappointed. Certainly it will take a lot of tricks played in clubs but that is not what a 2C opening shows.
The one advantage of opening 2C is that your opponents will be fooled as well. If they ask what it means no doubt they will be told "strong" or "Benjamin" or "Acol" and this may keep them out of the auction. However, this would be unfair, keeping them out of the auction by misinforming them. As a result of this the EBU has, very correctly, decided it is illegal to open a highly distributional hand with a lot of tricks but not high cards with 2C, and if you do so you are playing an illegal agreement. The board will be cancelled and your opponents will get average plus, and you will get average minus.
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| Hand of the Week 28th December 2015 |
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I was asked how the bidding went to get to 6NT.
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| Show Answer |
How the Bidding Went
| North |
East |
South |
West |
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1♣ |
| Pass |
1♦ |
Pass |
1♥ |
| Pass |
3♦ (1) |
Pass |
3♠ (2) |
| Pass |
4NT (3) |
Pass |
5♥ (4) |
| Pass |
6NT |
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1 - Strong hand 6+ Diamonds
2 - Indicating a 4 4 4 1 hand with 15+ points (reverse bid ♠ over ♥
3 - Blackwood
4 - 2 Aces. |
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| Hand of the Week 11th January 2016 |
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The question asked was, 'which suit should West open on the 4441 hand'?
or, should the question be 'what should my partner respond'?
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| Show Answer |
The EBU Really Modern Acol teaches
With a red singleton, open up the suit ranking immediately below the singleton.
With a black suit singleton, open up the middle of the three remaining suits..
Andrew Robson teaches
Hot and Cold (Hearts or Clubs)
Click on title to display pages from his book opening as Opener dealing with 4441 hands including a page from the EBU book Really Modern Acol
Responding
With no 4 card suit to bid at the 1 level, responder should bid 1NT. Although west has 9 points, the hand does not fit the Rule of 14 (HCPs + longest suit should be 14+ to respond at the 2 level)
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| Hand of the Week 4th January 2016 |
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6♠ or 6NT?
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6♠ makes if South leads thier singleton Heart, but they are not going to do that are they? If they lead the Ace of Clubs, they find the ruff, one down. Always lead an Ace vs a suit slam.
6NT makes |
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| Hand of the Week 30th November 2015 |
Show Detail | 30th November 2015
Board 11 only one pair East West bid the slam
How?
A player once said, many slams are made but not many bid.
Let us try and be a little more competitive with our bidding
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| Show Answer |
| North |
East |
South |
West |
How the Bidding Went with Janet and John Wright
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2♠ (1) |
DBL (2) |
| Pass |
3♠ (3) |
Pass |
4♥ |
| 6♥ (4) |
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1 - Weak two
2 - Double for penalties (in John and Janets system)
3 - Cue bid asking West to bid.
4 - with fit in hearts - bid slam.
Also - After a week two, the Double is for take out. Bidding could have gone 2♠ - * - Pass - 3♥ - Pass - 6♥
| North |
East |
South |
West |
Or without the week two.
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Pass |
1♦ (1) |
| Pass |
1♥ |
Pass |
2♥ (2) |
| Pass |
6♥ (3) |
Pass |
Pass |
| Pass |
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1 - opening longest Suit
2 - Showing 12 - 14 HPC and 3+ suppoirt
3 - with a losing trick count of 5 and a 9/10 cards fit opposite an opening hand with minimum 7 lossers.
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